Vegan at Walt Disney World - Nov 2018

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Yeah, it's on the menu simply as "Vegan Burger" and we were on the QS dining plan so didn't pay too much attention to prices I do remember seeing the "Beyond Burger" brand specifically named somewhere though (I think it was Lottawatta Lodge at Blizzard Beach).

I still think it unlikely, however, that ABC changed their patty in that 3 day window.

It is most definitely the Beyond Burger at the Commissary - there is no room for error or confusion, that's definitely what burger it is. I would say it's highly likely you ate a "real" burger.

Was there avocado aioli on it? The burger at the Commissary has a special bun and custom avocado aioli that I believe is only on that burger. They wouldn't "accidentally" put that topping on a regular burger, in other words.

How horrifying. I would be sick...

 

[Hayley In Wonderland]

Just back from a 2 week vacation. On the whole it was wonderful but we do have one rather alarming incident to report.

ABC Commissary at Hollywood is one of our favorite food joints and we heard they had recently added the Beyond Burger to their menu so were looking forward to checking it out.

Now, coming from Europe we had no experience with the Beyond Burger and didn't know what to expect. Couple days before, in Epcot, we had what we guessed to be a Beyond Burger at the American pavilion QS. It was DELICIOUS!

Anyway, on inspecting our vegan burger at ABC, it was completely different, looked more like a "traditional" thin burger you'd get in McDonalds and tasted distinctively meaty, if a bit bland and rubbery.

OK, we'd read that the Beyond Burger was trying to replicate the look and texture of a real meat burger. Perhaps the one we had at Epcot wasn't a Beyond Burger, but some other kind of plant based alternative (it was a big, thick, juicy patty). We had also heard reports of several different vegan burgers at Disney, and also that they switched up their burgers quite regularly depending on popularity and availability.

So we returned to ABC a few days later and ordered the vegan burger again to try to work out which one was in fact the Beyond Burger. This time we got the same burger as we'd had at Epcot, not the thin "meaty" patty! Eek.

So I guess ABC fed us meat. Not good.

We are more mellow and laid back than a lot of vegans, but for many people this is an absolutely horrendous, unforgivable, traumatizing error. In retrospect, we probably should have asked to speak to manager at the time to give them a heads up, but we favored waiting to write a letter when we got home. In truth, we still weren't quite sure what was going on and were a little bewildered. It seems clear, in retrospect, that they did indeed serve us the meat burger. It's a stretch to think that they changed their vegan patty in the 3 day window between visits. Ironically, as we were in a rush to get to the Boardwalk for a World Cup game, this was the only meal we didn't take a photo of!

As a vegan of 3 years, I have vague memories of real meat burgers so I was slightly suspicious, but not overly so on the first visit. My girlfriend, as a lifelong vegan however, would have been completely oblivious. She has no idea what a meat burger tastes like!

Has anyone else been served a thin, McDonalds style burger as a vegan burger?

That is terrible on Disney's part. It can be so frustrating to receive meat when you haven't ordered it, I've experienced this probably far more than I should have. Luckily I've never eaten it, but the thought of it makes me feel so sick. It's bad especially if you ordered this due to an intolerance in the meat burger you had. Will keep my eye out if we order this and get a thin gross patty!

 

[higgipoker]

Was there avocado aioli on it?

Honestly can't remember. Like I said, in retrospect we probably should have taken it more seriously at the time... just a combination of being in a bit of a rush and, well, being in Disney vacation mode! We just kind of brushed it off.

 

[higgipoker]

To follow up, my better half wrote to Disney detailing the incident. Needless to say they were very apologetic and refunded the cost of the meal, and promised to pass the info on to the relevant catering people to investigate.

On a related note, they also went above and beyond by refunding a bill from Sanaa in full. To be honest, I'm rather embarrassed by this as Sanaa is my favorite restaurant and it was far from a bad experience, just a couple of small issues that could have been handled better this year:

- they couldn't manage to seat us at a window table despite there being several such tables free.

- the waiter suggested 2 possible vegan desserts, tapioca and rice pudding, as we'd had the tapioca last year, we went for the rice pudding. Waiter returned with the tapioca, saying he'd made a mistake and the rice isn't actually vegan. No big deal, as I'd probably have ordered it anyway after being informed the rice wasn't available, but we still thought he should have asked if we wanted it first!

So like I said, a couple of trivial gripes hence my embarrassment at receiving a full refund! I feel bad for the waiter who I assume will not get his tip now.

 

[higgipoker]

That is terrible on Disney's part. It can be so frustrating to receive meat when you haven't ordered it, I've experienced this probably far more than I should have. Luckily I've never eaten it, but the thought of it makes me feel so sick. It's bad especially if you ordered this due to an intolerance in the meat burger you had. Will keep my eye out if we order this and get a thin gross patty!

It's an interesting question though. Even after not touching animal products for only 3 years, I inspected the burger and thought it was just a new style "Beyond Burger" or something. It didn't scream "MEAT" to me at all.

My better half, vegan practically her whole life, had absolutely no chance of telling the difference!

How would you know?!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

It's an interesting question though. Even after not touching animal products for only 3 years, I inspected the burger and thought it was just a new style "Beyond Burger" or something. It didn't scream "MEAT" to me at all.

My better half, vegan practically her whole life, had absolutely no chance of telling the difference!

How would you know?!

It's nice to hear that Disney went above and beyond for you!

To me, the Beyond Burger is similar but not exactly the same as a hamburger. The Impossible Burger, though, tastes EXACTLY like a "real" hamburger. It's spooky. I can see why a lot of vegans don't like it because it's just so close.

But you're so right, if you haven't had meat in several years, how could you REALLY know! We arrive in WDW tomorrow and I am going to be vigilant in checking...just in case!

 

[higgipoker]

It's nice to hear that Disney went above and beyond for you!

To me, the Beyond Burger is similar but not exactly the same as a hamburger. The Impossible Burger, though, tastes EXACTLY like a "real" hamburger. It's spooky. I can see why a lot of vegans don't like it because it's just so close.

But you're so right, if you haven't had meat in several years, how could you REALLY know! We arrive in WDW tomorrow and I am going to be vigilant in checking...just in case!

Right, just so nobody gets the wrong idea, I wasn't making a judgement on the Beyond burger, just picked at random - we didn't have experience with any of the "new" plant based burgers so really had nothing to compare it with (other than experience at the parks that same trip).

I'm so jealous, enjoy your trip!